The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling liquid containers in the form of empty beverage packaging in a horizontal position, for example, cans or bottles of any cross-section, in connection with the detection of characteristic features of the container, where the method comprises:
a) placing the container on a conveyor, where the conveyor belts of the conveyor together form an approximate V-shape in cross-section, b) detecting the contour of the container by means of a container-detecting unit, and c) determining whether there is a visible identification code on the container or not, and where the apparatus comprises: a first and second conveyor with respective belt structure, where the belts are movable in a mutually parallel direction, and in a first, container-supporting position form an angle relative to one another, thereby forming an approximate V-shaped conveyor.
An apparatus for conveying and optionally rotating liquid containers in a horizontal position, for example, empty beverage packaging in the form of cans or bottles of any cross-section, is already known.
In connection with an apparatus of this kind, it has been known to lift the liquid container up from the conveyor and to rotate the container by using rotary rollers in order to detect in the best possible way characteristics of the liquid container such as marker codes, for example, bar codes etc. If a liquid container at the point of examination was found not to satisfy certain criteria, a superjacent channel having an inverted U-shaped would be made to carry the liquid container away from the rotary rollers, whilst a liquid container for onward conveying would be lowered onto the conveyor again and optionally conveyed onwards.
The aforementioned solution is both complicated and unsuitable for the examination of cans or bottles having an irregular cross-section.
It has therefore been an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus that is mechanically simpler, but at the same times permits the examination of cans or bottles having any and substantially different cross-sections.
According to the invention, the method is characterised by
d) if an identification code is visible, detecting the code by means of a code detector, and then carrying out steps f) or g), or
e) if an identification code is not visible, moving the conveyor belts apart so as to drop the container onto a pair of rotary rollers for rotation of the container until an identification code on the container becomes visible to the code detector and is detected thereby, whereupon the conveyor belts are brought together to form the said V-shape and thus lift the container up from the rotary rollers, and then carrying out steps f) or g),
wherein step f) comprises carrying the container onwards on the conveyor to a point downstream in relation to the conveyor; and step g) comprises carrying the container on the conveyor back to an upstream position or insertion position.
According to the invention the apparatus is characterised by:
means for moving the two conveyors apart to a second position thereof, thereby exposing in the space between the conveyor belts a pair of rotary rollers that have the same direction of rotation and whose axis of rotation lies in the direction of travel of the conveyor belts, whereby a container supported by the conveyor belts in the first position falls onto the pair of rollers and is rotated there;
a detector unit adapted to detect characteristic features of the container, for example, its contour, an identification code or the like, during the rotation of the container; and
means for moving the two conveyors from the second position back to the first position, whereby the container that it rotated on the rollers is lifted up and away from the rollers by the conveyor belts for support by the conveyor belts in said first position.
According to a further embodiment of the apparatus, the container in said first position of the conveyors will either be carried onwards to a point downstream in relation to the conveyor, or be caused to be carried back to the upstream position.